“Yeah, I dropped off the stuff you asked me to for her last night, and her dude gave me real weird vibes. She almost seemed scared of that nigga,” Cassidy stated.
“Wait, what?” Sloan’s worry was evident.
“She said everything was fine, but it justain’t feel right, you know what I mean? I ain’t want to overstep, but you should check on your friend,” Cassidy stated.“And if the situation need some straightening, you don’t go nowhere near it. None of y’all. You make one phone call and I’ma handle it. I hope I’m wrong.”
“I’mgonna call her now,” Sloan said, concerned as she pushed past him and rushed to her purse.
“Hey, sprinter’s here. You ready to…” Shy paused when she saw Sloan’s face.
“Whoa,”Shy said.“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let’s stop by and check on Court. It doesn’t feel right doing thisFriendsmas thing without her,” Sloan said. She didn’t want to ring the alarm if Cassidy were wrong, but there was no way she could avoid checking on her friend.
“Yeah, we were doing that anyway. What are you not saying?” Shy asked.
“Let’s just stop and check.”
The luxury Mercedes Sprinter was tense. Nobody knew why except Sloan and Cassidy, but Shy had her suspicions. She rode in silence, as the city streets passed her by, and she dialed Courtney’s number every few minutes. The automatic voicemail was killing her. Either her phone was dead or on Do Not Disturb. This was not the vibe she had planned forFriendsmas, but she realized that so much time had passed since they had all been together that they hardly knew what was going on with each other. Shy glanced over at Sloan, who sat next to Cassidy. She didn’t miss the intimacy that existed between them. Sloan was worried, so she was also dialing Courtney back-to-back, but the way Cassidy was rubbing the back of her neck to ease the tension in her shoulders was telling. If she weren’t so worried, she would be ready to spill the tea, but Courtney had her shook.
When the driver arrived at Courtney’s address, Sloan stood.“I’ma go get her. I’llbe right back.”
Sloan gave Shy a weary look, but it wasn’t one that Ellie missed.
“What’s going on?” Ellie asked. She immediately knew something was aloof.
“Nothing,”Shy said.
“Try again with your lying ass,” Ellie stated.“What the fuck is going on?”
“Look, E, I stopped by here last night to deliver some diapers and shit and shit just felt off,” Cassidy said.
“Off how?” Ellie asked.
“I don’t know, man. Shit seemed tense. She was timid, almost. Her old man was in his body about me coming by so late,” Cassidy stated.
“Like he wasgon’do something to her?” Ellie asked, alarmed.
“I didn’t say that. It just felt off, like he thought I was a nigga she was messing with or some shit,” Cassidy replied.“Look, y’all stay here, and I’ma go knock on the door,” Cassidy said.
“If James thinks you’re her side nigga, you going to the door is just going to make a bad situation worse,” Sloan said. I’llgo see if she’s coming or not. James is an asshole, but they’ve been together forever. They lost a kid. They got this new baby. They’ve been through a lot. They probably just hit a rough patch.”
Cassidy climbed out of the sprinter and held out his hand to help her down.
“I’ma walk you to the door,” Cassidy stated.
“I don’t think that…”
“I wasn’t asking,” Cassidy stated as he grabbed her hand and helped her navigate the icy path to the door.
Shy glanced over at Ellie.
“Bitch, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Shy asked under her breath.
Ellie glanced up at Sloan and Cassidy as they stood side by side.
“He’s just being protective,” Ellie stated.“Sloan wouldn’t go there with my brother. We know what type of men she likes. That’s my girl, but she’sa snob.”
“Girl, jailhouse dick will turn hersaditty ass inside out,” Shy snickered.
